The earliest settlement in Brooklyn Township, outside of the
Ohio City area, took place in 1814 on the bluff south of the Big
Creek valley at the present intersection of Pearl and Broadview
Roads. After incorporating in 1838 as the Village of Brighton
(e.g., "Brooklyn-Brighton Bridge"), the area was re-absorbed
by the Township one year later and remained in that status until
1889, when the Village of South Brooklyn was incorporated. South
Brooklyn lost municipal status in 1905 when it was annexed to
Cleveland. The western and southeastern portions of Old Brooklyn
became part of Cleveland when Brooklyn Township and portions of
the Village of Brooklyn Heights were annexed in 1917 and 1927,
respectively.

The trip between South Brooklyn and Cleveland was shortened
in 1905 when the Pearl Road street-car line was extended south
across the Big Creek valley. The area now known as Brookside Park
was purchased in 1894 by Cleveland's Park Board and became the
permanent home of the Cleveland Zoo in 1908, when the Zoo was
relocated from the University Circle area.

During the late 1880's, the area around Schaaf Road (now known
as South Hills) began to develop as one of the first in the Midwest
to utilize greenhouses for the growing of vegetables. By the 1920's
the neighborhood was one of the nation's leading producers of
greenhouse vegetables, with over 100 acres under glass. Today
only a handful of greenhouses remain, with some former greenhouse
sites providing prime site for the development of contemporary
housing.

Commercial development in Old Brooklyn intensified during the
1920's particularly along Pearl, Broadview and State Roads. Newer
shopping plazas were developed more recently in the neighborhood
at the intersections of Memphis and Fulton, Broadview and Brookpark,
and Pearl and Brookpark. Residential development continued at
a significant pace from the early part of the century through
the 1960's. During the late 1980's, residential development experienced
a resurgence, particularly in the South Hills and Jennings Road
areas. Today, housing values in Old Brooklyn remain among the
highest in Cleveland.